This is my favourite chilli con carne recipe ever not just because it tastes amazing, incredibly velvety with an amazing depth of flavour thanks to the dark chocolate… but also because of the way it looks. Making chilli con carne look nice is no mean feat… but topped with melted chocolate squares and laced with Sour Cream hearts, it’s as if you have given your giant chilli con carne the barista treatment.

I find it’s really useful to have an oven proof casserole dish for this recipe but if you don’t you can transfer it from a cooking pot to an oven proof dish and top with foil instead…. also I’ve found always good to save those glass jars for making your own ready to go Chilli spice mix… it was a life saver for me at uni as I can’t stand bland food… I used to top mine up at my mums house in Somerset so I wouldn’t have to buy my own spices! This recipe is the perfect winter warmer and it goes very quickly once on the table! Proof chocolate makes everything better.

Method

To make your own basic spice mix add 1 tbs of each spice mix ingredient to a small jar and shake shake shake.

In large casserole dish add your onions and red peppers, cook over a low heat until tender and the onion is translucent then add the crushed garlic, bay leaves and 1 heaped teaspoon of spice mix.

Add stewing beef chunks and stir to lightly brown the meat on all sides at this point and the beef stock and bring to a simmer.

Add the tomato, black beans, marmite, sugar and 200g of chocolate (save some for topping the chilli.) Give it all a stir and cover with foil or the casserole dish lid and pop it in the oven for 2-3 hours (longer if possible) on 180C

To serve remove the lid and dollop over a few tablespoons of sour cream, using a butter knife drag through the cream to make heart shapes, then break the remaining 100g of chocolate into squares and pop around the stew allowing it to melt attractively into the dish... finally top with a little coriander to finish!